This invention relates to catheters and more particularly to an indwelling catheter which can be used for continuous bladder drainage or adapted to function as a user controlled incontinence device.
Indwelling urethral catheters have long been used to facilitate bladder drainage in individuals who are unable to initiate or control such drainage due to organic disability, immobility, or other physical impairment.
In some instances a patient will be rendered immobile on a temporary basis due to medical complications or other impediment, and the nature of the disability will require use of a catheter with a collection arrangement that permits continuous bladder drainage.
Continuous drainage catheters, wherein fluid draining from the bladder flows into a collection bag that can be emptied as needed, are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,981,299; 3,924,634; 3,811,450; 3,805,794; and 3,769,981.
Occasionally it may be advisable for a patient to change from a continuous drainage catheter to one which permits user controlled bladder drainage. Such a change often requires replacement of the continuous drainage catheter with an incontinence control device that enables the user to control bladder discharges through user controlled valves, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,331,371; 3,768,102; 4,026,298 and 4,350,161.
The installation and/or removal of a continuous drainage catheter will sometimes cause irritation. When the removal of a continuous drainage catheter is followed by the installation of a replacement catheter that is user controlled, further discomfort may be experienced.
It is thus desirable to provide an indwelling urethral catheter that can be used for continuous drainage of fluid from a bladder and, without replacing the urethral installation of the catheter, can be adapted to function as an incontinence control device that permits user controlled bladder drainage.